Nutritional Benefits of Collard Greens - Improve your Overall Health

Why Collard Greens Should Be in Your Diet

Collard Greens Plant

Brassica oleracea variety acephala is a variety of cabbage—thereby, collard—under the family of mustard plants, Brassicaceae. In general, collards are an excellent source of important minerals and vitamins A and C.

Collard bears the same botanical name as kale and differs in its several leaf characteristics. It has wider leaves, is not frilled, and resembles those of head cabbage. The plants grow about 60–120 cm high with a cluster of leaves at the top. Gradually collected lower leaves, sometimes taking the entire young rosette are harvested. Although collard is almost exclusively grown annually, it is a biennial plant that will form clusters of yellow, four-petaled flowers in its second year of growth.

Nutrition of Collard Green 

A single serving of fresh collard greens contains the following nutritional values:

• Caloric content: 11 calories
• Protein: 1 gram
• Fat: Less than 1 gram
• Carbohydrates: 2 grams
• Dietary fibre: 1 gram
• Sugar: Less than 1 gram.

Benefits of Collard Green

Cysteine may help improve sleep and mood.

As noted earlier, collard green is one of the richest sources of choline, a very essential neurotransmitter that has a variety of important roles within the human body. The amount of choline in a person's system regulates mood, sleep, muscle control, and cognitive learning and memory.

Additionally, collard green is rich in folate, another compound with a quality similar to choline. Folate has been attributed to the possible advantage of treating depression by blocking the accumulation of homocysteine, an amino acid that is poisonous in large proportions.

May Improve Bone Health

Collard greens, being rich in calcium and vitamin K, facilitate the strengthening of bones during a person's formative years. The same vitamin K in collard greens helps to activate proteins essential for bone health and bone metabolism in adults, thereby relieving osteoporosis. Including this green leafy vegetable in the diet of postmenopausal women will help arrest bone loss, which is a natural process in the ageing cycle.It may Prevent Birth Defects.

Collard greens, along with other dark, green leafy vegetables, are excellent natural sources of folate. This nutrient is a significant growth promoter in the body, especially in growing children and pregnant women. As such, doctors recommend that those about to conceive take at least 400 micrograms of folate per day to prevent birth defects like spina bifida.

May Improve Digestion

The fibre structure of collard greens is also beneficial for digestive purposes. Fibre is often recommended to avoid constipation and to provide regularity, and with the high content of fibre and water in a collard green, it is no wonder that the consumption of this vegetable is often advised to people suffering from digestion problems. 

May help Diabetes

A large fibre intake may, however, lower inflammation and glucose levels in people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
For patients who have diabetes of the type 2 variety, high-fibre diets can be effective on blood sugar, lipids, and insulin. A single serving of boiled collard green contains nearly 8 grams of fibre.

Can Help in Improving Liver Function

Collard greens, in their specific amount of alpha-lipoic acid, are rich in antioxidants known to reduce glucose levels but, on the other hand, increase insulin sensitivity to protect individuals with diabetes from oxidative stress; it takes part in the regeneration of liver tissues.

Lowering Blood Cholesterol

According to researchers and experiments, eating collard greens reduces the amount of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol—what people commonly refer to as "bad" cholesterol. The high fibre found in collard greens has a positive effect on health issues related to blood pressure and cholesterol and promotes heart health.

Uses of Collard Green

1. Sweat them in a pan with a little oil or butter, herbs, spices, or minced garlic.
2. They can be chopped up and mixed in with a scrambled egg blend.
3. The leaves can be whirred with toasted nuts, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic, and salt in a food processor to form a pesto sauce.
4. Take a handful of leaves and drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, and a little salt.
5. Slice and use leaves as a pizza topping; add fresh mozzarella and tomatoes.
6. Mix chopped leaves into your homemade chilli or stew.
7. Mix chopped leaves into a pot of brown rice cooked with red pepper flakes and smoked paprika.
8. Blend leaves parsley and/or cilantro with olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice to make salad dressing.
9. Roast leaves in olive oil and salt as a venal substitute for fried potato chips.
10. Boil, then simmer leaves, in a well-seasoned broth, together with the meat to infuse taste.

Conclusion

Collard greens might not be a common ingredient in your culinary repertoire, but this dark, leafy green vegetable shares a close kinship with several more widely recognized vegetables like broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, and kale. All of these belong to the cruciferous family, which is known to possess compounds that potentially safeguard against cancer. Moreover, collard greens offer a plethora of other health advantages and can be savoured in a multitude of delectable preparations when cooked appropriately.